The Arkansas Supreme Court has been asked to appoint a special judge to hear the case of Jefferson County Clerk Patricia Johnson, who was charged with multiple felonies earlier this week.
Circuit Judge Rob Wyatt Jr. sent a letter to Chief Justice Jim Hannah saying that he is recusing himself from the case to avoid an appearance of impropriety and saying he was authorized to say that Judges Berlin C. Jones, William Benton, Leon Jamison, Jodi Raines Dennis and Earnest E. Brown Jr. have also recused.
Wyatt also said in the letter that he appointed Special Prosecutor Jack McQuary to conduct an investigation into the offices of the Jefferson County Clerk and Jefferson County Sheriff based on an audit of Jefferson County that was conducted by the State Division of Legislative Audit that was released in early March.
According to that audit, the two offices were not in compliance with state laws and accepted accounting practices.
Johnson is charged with a total of 10 counts of second-degree forgery, nine of them based on the audit and the tenth based on an investigation by the Arkansas State Police alleging she changed the date on her political practices pledge. She is also charged with one count of abuse of public trust and four counts of theft of property, more than $5,000 but less that $25,000. All of the offenses were alleged to have occurred between Jan. 1, 2010, and March 4, 2014.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
She was arrested Wednesday, booked into the jail and released on her own recognizance.
The State Police began an initial investigation into Johnson at the request of Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter last year after he received complaints. Hunter has declined to discuss the nature of the complaints.
McQuary has declined to comment on whether additional charges could be forthcoming against Johnson or others as a result of the initial investigation or from a subsequent investigation that was prompted by the audit.